One of Britain’s greatest Paralympic athletes visited pupils at Somercotes Academy last week as well as giving out awards at their presentation evening.

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson arrived to North Somercotes on Thursday (September 28), just 24-hours after appearing on live television in Canada, commentating for the BBC at The Invictus Games.

Tanni, who has won 11 Gold medals in five Paralympic Games, and has also won the London Wheelchair Marathon six times, gave students a simple message.

She told them to honour their commitments, work hard and never give up.

Earlier in the day, Tanni visited the newly-refurbished academy, sharing some of her career experiences with students.

Ms Thompson said: “I knew I wanted to do wheelchair racing from the age of 13, and by 18 I was training 15 times a week.

“If you want to be good at something - you have to do it over and over again. There is no escape from hard work. I would like to be able to tell you that there is a quicker route, but there simply isn’t.”

She also told students that achieving anything is about setting yourself a goal, dreaming big and getting up on that start line.

“Don’t ever be afraid to try,” Tanni added.

She also joined students from the academy at the Riverhead Theatre in Louth for their second awards night.

The academy, which opened as a member of Tollbar Multi Academy Trust in 2015, celebrated progress, achievement and endeavour across the whole curriculum.

Tanni presented 80 awards to students in front of a packed theatre of proud parents, family and friends.

When the academy initially opened in 2015 as a member of Tollbar Multi Academy Trust it had just 200 students.

That figure has almost doubled in just two years.

Caroline Yates, academy principal said: “Somercotes Academy is a beacon of academic excellence and is at the heart of efforts to improve the education of children in this local community.”